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Training for drug treatment professionals begins

A 8-day training on Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC) for local professionals engaged in treatment of drug addicts and abusers begin here Tuesday.
The event, first of a series of a year long capacity building exercise, sponsored by United States government, will continue till next year and encompass all 9 modules of the UTC and UNODC.
Kathryn Abate, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Attach, at the United States Consulate General Karachi, addressing the opening ceremony said the initiative taken with INL funding, will be held at regular intervals in Karachi and Lahore.
The training currently underway in the metropolis is being attended by 28 professionals, including 12 women, representing government hospitals and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, Islamabad, and Azad Kashmir.
Dr. Farrukh Mahmood Ansari of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Pakistan and Brigadier Noor ul Hassan, the Force Commander of the Regional Directorate of the Pakistan Anti-Narcotics Force in Sindh were also present on the occasion.
The United States was said to view capacity building as one of its most important engagements with its Pakistani partners, including the Government of Pakistan and its provinces, multiple NGOs, and international organizations.
Initiatives like these training courses will help improve conditions for treating drug abuse disorders in Pakistan, and help those who seek science-based treatment on international standards for their substance use disorder, said Kathryn Abate.
The State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau, which has been assisting drug demand reduction programs in Pakistan for more than a decade, works in more than 90 countries to help governments combat crime and corruption, counter drug-related crime, improve police institutions, and promote laws and court systems that are fair and accountable—APP